A Different Kind of Uniform

[Editor’s Note: Today we have an guest entry from an anonymous contributor who’s going to tell us about an interesting category of uniforms: the shirts worn by Apple Store employees. Enjoy. — PL]

By Anonymous

I’ve worked for years at an Apple Store in suburban mall. I recently asked Paul if he’d be interested in a rundown of what we’ve worn over the years, and he said sure.

Prior to 2006, Apple retail employees wore a black shirt with a grey rubber patch on the left sleeve with the Apple logo:

That changed around 2006, when we started wearing cotton T-shirts supplied by American Apparel. We got new shirts three to four times per year, and each shirt was imprinted with some pithy comment, usually on the back, along with illustrations of new products. The T-shirts were in different colors, according to job specification — Genius, Sales, Inventory, etc.:

This lasted until 2009-2010, when we switched to all-blue shirts with white Apple logos in the center of the front –initially silk-screened, now embroidered:

For approximately six weeks beginning on Black Friday, we all switch from blue to red for the holiday season:

Then there’s the store Business Team, which wears black polo shirts with the Apple logo and “Business” embroidered on the left sleeve (presumably because polos look more businesslike than T-shirts):

I’ve also included a picture of the 30th-anniversary shirt we’ve recently been wearing. As you can see, the logo is clearly reminiscent of the old rainbow Apple logo that was on the original Mac:

You’ll probably find a lot more pictures of different shirts on eBay, as it’s pretty common for former employees to sell their old shirts.

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Sunshine State recap: In case you missed it over the weekend, Florida State and Miami both unveiled new football uniforms. Phil did a sensational job of breaking down both new designs — look here for FSU and here for Miami.

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Tick-Tock: Today’s Ticker was compiled and written by Phil, except for ’Skins Watch, which was handled by Paul.

’Skins Watch: “Since Florida State adopted the Seminoles nickname 67 years ago, no known Seminole Tribe of Florida member has played football for the school,” says David Wilson. “Justin Motlow will change that in two months.” … The National Indian Gaming Association, a nonprofit that includes 184 Indian nations as members, has canceled its sponsorship of a charity golf event in Arizona because of the event’s ties to the ’Skins, proving yet again that only white people care about this issue (from Don Silsby). … David Firestone has written a piece about why he chose to de-Chief his Indians jersey.

NBA News: It’s not quite a frankenjersey, but Brandon Blaikiespotted this at the Brea, CA Ross. “You know, where the 5.1 earthquake happened a couple weeks ago,” he says. “Must have knocked a Lakers jacket into a Thunder jacket. I think it was ten bucks.” … UW ticker intern Mike Chamernik was at “an all-hot sauce store” where he found NBA team hot sauce. Mike “would have bought one but it was like $9 per bottle.”

College Hoops News: Here’s a pretty interesting article from Paul Lee about Wilson being the official ball for the NCAA tournament. (During the regular season, NCAA rules allow the home team to choose the brand of ball.)

Grab Bag: Good spot from Paul Lee again, who notes he’s seen magazines featuring athletes wearing clothing from multiple manufacturers. “Here, the runner’s wearing a Nike top and an Adidas bottom. (Can’t tell who makes the shoes.) I think that’s pretty neat, and I commend the magazine for doing it.” … G.I. Joe comes to big-time boxing: Timothy Bradley Jr. wore camouflage trunks for Saturday night’s bout against Manny Pacquiao (thanks, Paul). … Now this is a truly epic Detroit fandom cake (thanks to Robert Silverman). … Check out this old UK mix record featuring a Royals player on eBay. Submitter Timothy Burke believes that’s Kevin Seitzer, because “the team only had a handful of white guys who batted righthanded, and it’s not Pat Tabler. I suppose it could be Bill Pecota but I don’t know what Bill Pecota looks like. I just think it’s a weird thing to use on a record of British dance hall hits.” Indeed. … “This upcoming weekend will see the implementation of NOBs on AFL jumpers, league-wide,” says Leo Strawn Jr. “Here’s a sneak peek of all 18 clubs and a closer shot of a few of them.” Further info here. … Paul was at the Brooklyn Beefsteak yesterday, and the head on his beer was doing a spot-on impersonation of a View-Master reel.”

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Uni Watch Hit Parade: Paul here. Life’s been a bit busy lately, so my thanks to our anonymous contributor for handling today’s lede and to Phil for handling the Ticker.

Now then: Several bands have released really, really good records lately. Dig:

1. The Cincinnati trash-pop band the Tweens (great name, esp. for their snotty, play-with-your-food sound) have a killer self-titled debut LP that’s destined to be the soundtrack of my summer — and yours too, if you’re smart enough to give it a listen. Bands like this usually don’t have the depth, maturity, or songwriting chops to make more than one good record, so this is likely the Tweens’ peak. But there’s no shame in one-and-done when your debut is as good as this one. Here’s a great track that will have you humming along by the second verse:

2. The New Jersey indie band Real Estate has made several good records, but their new one, Atlas, is head and shoulders above their earlier works. Soft, shimmering guitar pop from guys who have totally figured out what they’re doing. Here are two highlights:

3. The Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett put out two excellent EPs last year. They’ve now been combined on one album, called The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas. She has this really laconic vocal style that kinda drips out, which I really like. Here are two of her best tracks:

4. The Beets are an indie band that I’ve always found pleasant but unremarkable. Now their frontman, Juan Wauters, has come out with a solo album called N.A.P. North American Poetry, which I like better than anything the full band has done. It’s basically folk-pop — sometimes bracing, sometimes gentle, but always well-constructed. Here are examples of each style:

5. I’ve previously sung the praises of the Ohio band Connections, but it’s worth repeating: Their Year One album, which compiles the three records they released last year, is totally the shit:

I knew it wasn’t Seitzer because the thighs were to thick. Just could not think who it would have been, but definitely Tartabull good call C.E.B.

Garry|
April 14, 2014 at 8:34 am |

I’m REALLY liking that Tweens song–thanks for sharing!

K|
April 14, 2014 at 8:34 am |

Paul, have you ever written a post stating your opinion about the use of specific tribal names and imagery? I know you are against the Redskins and Indians, but this is the second day in a row that you’ve posted a column that highlights the positive relationship between the Seminole Tribe and Florida State University. What are your thoughts?

My thoughts have always been that I’m fine with FSU because they have permission from the Seminole Tribe.

Devern Hansack|
April 14, 2014 at 12:32 pm |

How do you feel about other teams like the Blackhawks, Braves (screaming Indian logo aside), or Chiefs? I’m actually trying to figure out where I stand on those teams and I figure that asking for your input–or the input of other commenters–is a good start.

Steve D|
April 14, 2014 at 12:51 pm |

What if a group from within the tribe started expressing they were offended by it? Just curious.

You guys must be new here — which is fine, but it gets kind of tedious going over old territory again and again.

My position is that this cultural imagery belongs to Native Americans and should not be used without their consent. That includes the Chiefs, the Braves, the works.

Steve D|
April 14, 2014 at 2:33 pm |

Not new…just seeking clarification. It seems to me that it would be impossible to get “consent” of all Native Americans to use their imagery. Who is authorized to give this consent? There will always be a gray area and some may still be offended after “consent” is given.

KT|
April 14, 2014 at 6:03 pm |

There’s “cultural imagery,” which you could certainly hold the position is theirs to consent to give (or withhold), just as you could more easily make the case of it being an honorific.

But the other half of the debate is about the caricaturish, exaggerated-features, no-one-actually-looks-like-this imagery that was created in a bygone era when we didn’t exactly call out white folks for being dicks to people of color. While 20-year-old white guys who are juniors in college may think it’s just “a smiling, happy guy,” it’s actually a hurtful, stereotypical depiction of a group that has been marginalized (at best) or murdered (at worst) over time.

I have a far bigger problem with the latter than the former.

Robert S|
April 14, 2014 at 2:04 pm |

That’s why I don’t like any of it. Just because leaders in a Tribe thinks it’s ok (I believe they get money from it) doesn’t mean it’s ok.

I could belong to the Seminole Tribe and be offended but that doesn’t seem to count.

Now obviously we are in a different area of the issue here as Redskins is pretty racist no matter who you are and Indians is a word that is no longer accepted, but if the issue is people being offended, then I don’t think having a leader or leaders say it’s ok is worth anything.

It’s a fine line. Just eliminate it all from sports.

arrScott|
April 14, 2014 at 2:48 pm |

Couple things. First off, that’s how government works, and it’s why representative democracy is the least-bad governing system. On no issue will every single person in any large group agree, so you must either have a system of mediating differences in which the majority has at least some of its way, or you will be stuck with a system in which any sufficiently loud tiny minority dictates for the entire group. Of course there will be some Seminoles who disagree with their tribal government on this issue! So what? Let that minority persuade a majority of their fellows, then win control of the tribal government through elections, and then the rest of the world will be obliged to listen to them. The answer to “Why should we listen to the tribal government?” is, “Because it’s the tribal government, and as such it is the only body that can legitimately speak for its people.”

In a larger sense, what does “offended” have to do with it? Nobody, not even Native Americans, have a right not to be offended. Personally, I take a pretty strong stance against the Redskins and Chief Wahoo, but I don’t care at all who finds them offensive, or how many people do. We don’t base our standards for common decency on whether something offends people; on the contrary, we base our judgments about whether something should offend us on the basis of whether that thing is decent. And call me crazy, but my personal definition of patriotism includes a strong dose of “if you insult any of my fellow Americans, you’re insulting me.” That includes other Americans deliberately using racial slurs toward other Americans.

The thing with the Seminoles is that the partnership with the tribe generally ensures that the team is not engaging in insulting behavior.

CWac19|
April 14, 2014 at 9:30 pm |

To be fair, Paul, there has been some evolution in your thinking. See the back-and-forth we had around 2:30 pm on May 15, 2011…

Old Jags helmet, too. My guess would be that they built the wall when those helmets were current and simply haven’t gone back an updated them, for whatever reason.

BvK1126|
April 14, 2014 at 11:33 am |

Old Browns helmet, too. It has a white face mask instead of the current gray.

KT|
April 14, 2014 at 1:06 pm |

And that got dropped out of the ticker submission for some reason.

The point of me sending in the photo was to show ( a ) that it’s a pretty cool feature but ( b ) they need to update the helmets. The Bills, Jaguars, Dolphins, Bucs (understandable, just happened) and Seahawks are all old helmets.

Randy|
April 14, 2014 at 9:14 am |

I think the “17” taped onto the bench in the O’s bullpen was done so by the other relievers just to mess with Matusz. He wasn’t near death or anything, although the team as a whole appeared to be yesterday…

Chris Cruz|
April 14, 2014 at 1:25 pm |

Matusz had flu-like symptoms, so presumably it wasn’t life threatening or anything like that.http://www.csnbaltim...

Shane|
April 14, 2014 at 9:17 am |

Real Estate are such a great band. Saw them a few years ago and had a nice conversation with the bassist after the show.

Anthony G|
April 14, 2014 at 9:33 am |

Those shoes are the New Balance 1400 V2. (http://www.backcount...) I had a friend who whs on the cover the runners world a few years back. If you are not a professional runner, they just get someone who looks “fit and don’t really care what brand they wear.

Paul Lee|
April 15, 2014 at 1:20 am |

I was actually looking for a link to the cover where the runner is wearing a NB top and Nike bottom. Since I couldn’t find it, I submitted this one. In real life, athletes wear what they like, but sponsored athletes must wear products from that company, whether it’s comfortable or not. Not sure what percentage of runners featured on the covers are sponsored (paid) to wear their apparel and equipment, but it appears to me that recreational runners typically get stuff from the same company so it’s cool to see something not match because it makes the magazine cover look less like an ad and more like a proponent of a healthy lifestyle.

Perhaps they are being true to Detroit and intentionally left the Auburn Hills Pistons out?

Dan|
April 14, 2014 at 9:42 am |

Just some reckless speculation, but I don’t think that hat is the draft hat. The bill on the sticker indicates that it is a 39-thirty hat (like an MLB BP cap), but since New Era got the NFL contract, the official draft hat has always been a 59-fifty (like a regular MLB cap).

On a side note, that design is pretty terrible.

jrod3737|
April 14, 2014 at 10:10 am |

University of Minnesota has the exact same wall as ASU. Every time I walk past it I’m surprised how many Gophers became Packers.

mike 2|
April 14, 2014 at 10:41 am |

As someone who dabbles in reading about sabremetrics, I’m stunned to learn that there was actually a player named Bill Pecota. I had no idea.

arrScott|
April 14, 2014 at 11:05 am |

Didn’t the Yankees have a shortstop in the farm system during the 2000s named Vorp?

Among actual surnames that resemble advanced metrics, I’m surprised to find that nobody named Cera has ever played pro ball at a serious level.

I couldn’t find a vorp, a babip or a whip. Only the 1971 Winnipeg Whips, perhaps the only team named after an advanced metric.

Ronnie Poore|
April 14, 2014 at 11:25 am |

i like the new FSU unis, with one major exception: gold numbers on white jerseys. even with the outline, numbers such as these are always hard to read. especially for fans in the higher up seats in stadiums. i’m always in favor of using your darkest color for numbers on your white jerseys.

Lee Wilds|
April 14, 2014 at 11:51 am |

“If you like this stuff as much as I do, don’t just listen for free — support the bands by buying their CDs.”

I totally agree with this statement, buy the album, go see’m live. Support the bands & artists you like.

terriblehuman|
April 14, 2014 at 11:53 am |

And buying CDs at live shows have the added benefit of cutting out the middleman so more of your money goes to the band.

JTH|
April 14, 2014 at 11:52 am |

“The Cincinnati trash-pop band the Tweens (great name, esp. for their snotty, play-with-your-food sound) have a killer self-titled debut LP that’s destined to be the soundtrack of my summer — and yours too, if you’re smart enough to give it a listen.”

Out of good albums released recently you forgot Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Best album of 2014 so far.

Kyle O.|
April 14, 2014 at 12:00 pm |

So I am in the DeChief camp. Last summer I figured I would do something else. I FedExed all my shirts and hats with Chielf Wahoo to the PR department with a letter stating why. Never got a response but with a signed receipt I know they got it.

rpm|
April 14, 2014 at 1:26 pm |

i assume someone else has covered this, but the submitter was so off i had to say something…

Timothy Burke believes that’s Kevin Seitzer, because “the team only had a handful of white guys who batted righthanded

…or you are completely off and that is obviously bo jackson. you’ll nail it next time kid’o.

rpm|
April 14, 2014 at 3:16 pm |

i didn’t even think of bo’s twin danny, that does make it tricky, it could really be either of those cats. guess better luck to me next time too.

Gill|
April 14, 2014 at 1:28 pm |

Let the record show that not one piece of Masters merchandise contains a logo other than the club’s. Not a one.

Ted E|
April 14, 2014 at 2:08 pm |

And I actually still have many of the t-shirts that i wore while working Apple Retail at the Genius bar.

They play a really wide range of great music, old and new (it’s where I first heard Real Estate, and Courtney Barnett’s getting pretty heavy play right now) that I think you’d dig – I have it on pretty much 24/7 these days…

Figures. Send in Creamer’s piece on the Coyotes, and find soon after that Phil already tweeted it and Paul had already retweeted it!

Ah, well.

Anyway, anybody hear from the Sharks on whether they’re going black or teal at home for this year’s playoffs?

Phil Hecken|
April 14, 2014 at 4:32 pm |

Gotta be quick, Rob!

As far as the Sharks, I am fairly confident (saw it somewhere, but I can’t find the cit) that they’ll be going black for the playoffs. To the chagrin of many, I’m sure.

If I run across it, I’ll post it, but a quick google search yielded nothing.

JTH|
April 14, 2014 at 4:56 pm |

maybe not. Supposedly the reason for them wearing black in the postseason the past few years was that the players felt that the alt jerseys were more comfortable than the teal ones because they were lighter weight.

But since they redesigned the primary jerseys, this is no longer the case.

Follow up…
Last week I posted asking for help contacting stirrup-legend R.P. Marshall and got much awesome help.

Phil H. was great, helping get me in touch with Mr.Marshall – I was awed to have heard from both famous uni-watch stalwarts in the same day! My email server was screwy and derailing my outgoing emails, but once in touch with the ‘rups king Robert Marshall it was all good!

So today I had the joy of opening up a package of stirrups of the highest quality and classic designs. I knew it would rock, and of course, it was as expected.

R.P.Marshall went above and beyond in helping get me exactly what I had been wanting. I can’t say enough about the cool merch and his personal customer service.

He not only has great business sense and artistic designs, I came away thinking this is a guy I would enjoy catching a ball game with or inviting to the family cookout. It was a total pleasure to do a little business with him, the word that comes to mind is “quality”.

And I wanted everyone to know it. Be the cool guy, wear stirrups. And get em from R.P.Marshall. You won’t be sorry!

Many thanks to the uni-watch crew,
a humble reader

UghItsDave|
April 14, 2014 at 10:12 pm |

That 5.1 quake belongs to us in La Habra…Brea already has a Lucilles BBQ and a Mall, us to the west have something! lol

Chris|
April 15, 2014 at 1:42 am |

That is the 3939 version of the NFL draft hat. The 5950 version has the grey design on the bill with a solid color crown.

James Burke|
April 15, 2014 at 2:13 am |

Still stupid, but less so.

Rob S|
April 15, 2014 at 1:37 pm |

Both Miami and Florida St. have awful new uniforms. I get a sick feeling even looking at them and I do not even like either team. Miami already had awful uniforms, so this just brings them down even further, and even gives me more reasons to despise and root against them. Florida St. on the other hand had a very cool jersey before, which makes this a huge downgrade. I don’t like the New Logo, The New Collar, The New Arrows on the helmet criss crossing. The alternate is completely unnecessary. Not one improvement.